Department of Theoretical and Applied Sciences, Insubria University, Via Dunant, 3, 21100, Varese, Italy.
Climate Change Research Center, Insubria University, Via Regina Teodolinda, 37, 22100, Como, Italy.
Sci Rep. 2023 Jan 5;13(1):177. doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-27219-2.
Here, we present the results related to a new unique terrestrial ecosystem found in an englacial hypersaline brine found in Northern Victoria Land (Antarctica). Both the geochemistry and microbial (prokaryotic and fungal) diversity revealed an unicity with respect to all the other known Antarctic brines and suggested a probable ancient origin mainly due a progressive cryoconcentration of seawater. The prokaryotic community presented some peculiarities, such as the occurrence of sequences of Patescibacteria (which can thrive in nutrient-limited water environments) or few Spirochaeta, and the presence of archaeal sequences of Methanomicrobia closely related to Methanoculleus, a methanogen commonly detected in marine and estuarine environments. The high percentage (35%) of unassigned fungal taxa suggested the presence of a high degree of undiscovered diversity within a structured fungal community (including both yeast and filamentous life forms) and reinforce the hypothesis of a high degree of biological uniqueness of the habitat under study.
在这里，我们呈现了在南极北维多利亚地发现的冰川内高盐卤水中新的独特陆地生态系统的相关结果。无论是地球化学还是微生物（原核生物和真菌）多样性，都与所有已知的南极卤水有所不同，这表明它可能具有古老的起源，主要是由于海水的逐渐冷冻浓缩。原核生物群落呈现出一些特殊性，例如出现了 Patescibacteria（可以在营养有限的水环境中茁壮成长）或少数螺旋体的序列，以及与 Methanoculleus 密切相关的古菌序列，Methanoculleus 是一种在海洋和河口环境中常见的产甲烷菌。未分类的真菌类群比例高达 35%，这表明在一个结构良好的真菌群落（包括酵母和丝状生命形式）中存在着高度未被发现的多样性，并加强了对研究中栖息地具有高度生物独特性的假设。
